U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers holds Doing Business with Federal Government seminar

Wednesday

Mar 27, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 27, 2013 at 1:06 PM

April Dudash Staff writer

U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers and a room full of North Carolina business people didn't shy away from the budget cut elephant in the room Tuesday morning.

Instead, the conversation focused on federal contracting opportunities rather than uncertainties.

Ellmers, along with the North Carolina Defense Business Association, held a Doing Business with the Federal Government Seminar at the Crown Center. About 60 businessmen and women attended. The event was the first of its kind hosted by Ellmers, a Republican who represents the 2nd District.

Ellmers said she and her team had second thoughts about holding the event during the initial implementation of automatic federal budget cuts, also known as sequestration.

"Even with the sequester in place, the government will still be doing business," Ellmers said. "And that's why we decided it would be important to continue to have this event."

Federal spending in North Carolina's 2nd District totaled $1.3 billion in fiscal 2012, according to Ellmers' office. The district includes Lee and Moore counties, and parts of Cumberland, Harnett and Hoke counties.

North Carolina's defense industry is second only to agriculture, Ellmers told the group.

Local businesses shared advice on how to dive into the defense marketplace. USfalcon, an integrated technology solutions company headquartered in Morrisville, and Alotech, an engineering and fabrication solutions business in Sanford, will remain unaffected by sequestration, for now.

Francis Chester, Alotech's vice president of sales and marketing, said a multiple-award Air Force contract they started working on last year gave them more credibility with the military.

Both Chester and Peter von Jess, USfalcon's chief executive officer, agreed that fostering good business relationships is the best way to stay afloat within the troubled defense industry.

Due to "this low-price shoot-out that's going on right now because of the budget constraints, the government will buy inexperience at a low price," Jess said. "Be careful what you're doing ... if you have one bad past performance, you're done."

From the agency perspective, a representative from the Army Research Office said there would only be a 10 percent cut to its funding. But that still may create delays in contract awards, said David Christ, Army Research Office small business specialist.

Companies also listened to a panel of small business development experts from the Small Business Administration and Procurement Technical Assistance Center.

"Cuts were coming anyway, but this was kind of compounded," said Terry Stroud, a N.C. PTAC counselor, about the pressure of sequestration. "It scares many who are trying to enter the market, and that's why it's going to be important to deal with the resources out there ... it is still a huge market."

Mark Mills, who is the North Carolina PTAC director, told companies to watch the fourth fiscal quarter, around August and September, for last-minute contracting opportunities.

Sequestration has been a painful process, Ellmers said in an email after the event, but the federal government is still offering opportunities to North Carolina companies.

And small businesses need help navigating the bureaucracy and finding contacts, she said.

"If we wanted to make this event political, we would have," Ellmers said. "We could have publicized it and invited all sorts of press and outsiders to come and see a show. But this was not (and should not be) political. People's jobs and businesses are on the line and facing crippling uncertainty."

Jovita Simons of Fayetteville was in the audience Tuesday. She owns her own retail gift business and used to hold contracts with AAFES, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.

She said she attended to find ways to reinvent her business, Jovita's Place.

"You can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results," she said. "It's called insanity."

And Simons said she won't let the fear of budget cuts hold her back.

"Just because it may take longer or it might be more difficult, that doesn't mean 'no' to me."

Staff writer April Dudash can be reached at dudasha@fayobserver.com or 486-3569.

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